looking for clarification if pools in apartment complexes are valid.
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Niantic says no. Public pools and other communal facilities in an apartment complex are valid, but not pools in apartment complexes for… reasons 
Years ago on the old forum, they said no. However, I feel since the new review flow that there is no good reason to reject an apartment complex pool. I personally accept them all the time. They definitely meet the socialize and exercise requirements.
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Years ago on the old forum, they said no. However, I feel since the new review flow that there is no good reason to reject an apartment complex pool. I personally accept them all the time. They definitely meet the socialize and exercise requirements.
I agree, but I haven’t seen any official update to this and I don’t know what the “reasons” may have been, because Niantic never deigned to provide a reasonable explanation.
Luckily, I don’t think I’ve really seen any since the new review flow was launched.
Much the same as I won’t start rejecting things without an official announcement of criteria changes, I don’t think I’d be willing to risk repercussions for “voting wrong” on these 
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That’s where the new review process helps. Safe? Yes. Appropriate? Yes, or, if not sure about the “reasons” - pick “I do not know”. Great place to exercise - depends on the swimming pool, but if it’s good pool, it’s good place to exercise. Submit.
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That’s where the new review process helps. Safe? Yes. Appropriate? Yes, or, if not sure about the “reasons” - pick “I do not know”. Great place to exercise - depends on the swimming pool, but if it’s good pool, it’s good place to exercise. Submit.
Didn’t they consider them “not safe” for some unknown reason?
Why would some pools be safe and others not? They clearly meet at least 2/3 eligibility criteria, which is 2 more than some of the things Niantic reviewers accept 
You’re asking me? lol I have absolutely no idea, it was one of the nonsense clarifications made repeatedly by Niantic staff that made absolutely no sense to me
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Right - it’s nonsense, which is why reasonable people accept residentially-focused pools which are not on single-family property.
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In the (not-so-distant) past, pools at apartment complexes and the like were considered categorically ineligible because, simply, Niantic said they were. The new review flow debut said that we should just review honestly and answer the questions truthfully, not relying on previous guidance. Why would these pools be ineligible? If they’re great places to exercise or socialize or explore, and they don’t meet any rejection criteria like single-family private pools or pools on school grounds, well, then, I’d vote to approve.
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Some pool accepted because there’s a official aquatic pool on website, if you have unofficial pool so you get rejected by niantic.
With the instruction that the new review flow system didn’t change criteria, several people have asked whether the restriction on apartment pools still applied, but were greeted with silence.
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Given that we are supposed to review to the current criteria, I dont see any reason to reject a pool that is open to multiple households and/or the public.
I didnt think we were supposed to be trying to remember comments from forum threads from 3 years ago ( or whenever) when reviewing nowadays.
They are definitely good places to exercise, and probably socialise too, so I would be accepting them.
With stuff like this I do find it hard to apply some obscure piece of information from a forum post that isnt available to wayfarers who dont use these forums (probably most of them!). Many people just read the criteria and get on with it and dont regularly visit the forum. So I think its best to stick with the “official” published criteria and “use my best judgement”.
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Swimming pools are great places to be social, and great places to exercise.
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But are they Pokéstops or Portals?
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Well, that depends on what game they were submitted with.
In old forums: Niantic posted Community Pools were acceptable but Apartment Pools and Hotel Pools were not.
They never clarified why 1 and not the other. The community speculated that it was because City Pools, or Training Pools have lifeguards and Apartment/Hotel Pools do not. But that is speculation and Niantic never confirmed that.
With the new forums and new way of judging, they can speak up.
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They are Wayfarer nominations.
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This is another area where we really need a proper official explanation, so much confusion and speculation is caused by Niantic’s refusal to effectively communicate what they want from us. No effort to correct assumptions or indicate if previous guidance from years ago still applies. The same questions come up over and over and could be easily avoided.
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I think probably with the new forum and deleting everything from the old one, it doesn’t?
Who knows really!
I feel quite strongly that the published criteria should be our only guide and that if Niantic want us to do something differently or apply exeptions, they should add that to the criteria really rather than mention things in a forum thread that overall very few people would see.
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